


Another beginning of the end

by sophinisba



Category: Merlin (BBC)
Genre: 100-1000 Words, Community: camelot_fleet, Episode Related, F/F, Femslash, Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-26
Updated: 2009-10-26
Packaged: 2017-10-05 20:21:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophinisba/pseuds/sophinisba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gwen and Morgana on the run (follows episode 2x03, but not really spoilery).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another beginning of the end

**Author's Note:**

> For netgirl_y2k's prompt "fire".

Gwen was with her the second time Morgana set the curtains on fire. They knew this time Uther would either blame Gwen or find out the truth about Morgana, so they simply left before anyone else had a chance find out and start making accusations. It hurt not to tell Arthur or Merlin, but they couldn't risk meeting anyone else on their way out, "Especially Gaius," Morgana said grimly.

At first there'd been some excitement along with the fear and sadness – sneaking through the castle and the stables in the chill before dawn, avoiding the guards and silently agreeing on the path they should take, even though it wasn't familiar.

They made good progress and, with no indication that they'd been followed, took the luxury of buying a meal and staying at an inn in the town they reached just after sunset. They shared a bed and talked about the future, saying they didn't need Uther and they didn't need the druids either. They'd done all right since they lost their fathers. They'd do all right on their own.

Morgana whispered her promises and her thanks in Gwen's ear and then she kissed Gwen's breasts and her belly and Gwen laughed because it tickled. Gwen spread her legs and Morgana gave her thanks without words, and Gwen moaned until she came and then turned them around and gave back.

It was a good beginning, that morning, that day and that night, and they curled together under the blankets. Morgana slept more soundly than she had in months, and Gwen was sure they would be safe from now on.

But when they woke up neither one of them wanted to move. It had rained overnight and the sky outside was daunting and grey. The bed was warm and it was hard to think of leaving it, especially when they didn't know where they needed to go.

"Away from Camelot," Gwen said, so they kept on in the direction they'd gone the day before. They passed through another town in the afternoon, but it didn't seem right to stop so early, or to spend more money when they didn't know how long Morgana's coins and jewelry had to last them.

It rained on and off all evening, never enough to soak them but enough to drown out the last of their good mood.

There wasn't another town. They stopped at two lonely houses where the farmers guiltily turned them away, saying only that they didn't want trouble. They passed by another old house that frightened them more than the thought of sleeping under the clouds, or even going back to Camelot.

They ended up in a cave half a mile from the road. It wasn't tall enough for them to stand and barely deep enough for them to sit or lie down, but they could see from the remains of a fire that they weren't the first travellers to take shelter here.

They found some wood that was damp rather than wet, and Morgana awkwardly stripped off the bark with her dagger, hoping the inside would be dryer. Gwen tried striking the flint and steel she'd bought in the town, but she couldn't get a spark to catch. "My dad said it's in the way you flick your wrist," she said, "but I never did learn. It never seemed so important before."

Morgana took her turn with the flint, but it worked no better than staring at the pile of wood and willing it to burn. They both thought of the candle and the curtains in Morgana's bedroom in the castle. "I can't control it," she said, "I can't." She shifted on the rocky ground and they both remembered the soft, warm bed they'd left behind. Morgana started shivering and found she couldn't stop, even when Gwen wrapped her arms around her, hushed her, told her it didn't matter, that she would keep her warm and keep her safe. Morgana clung to her and trembled and tried to believe it was true. "I'm sorry," she said.

"We never thought it would be easy," Gwen said.

They hadn't, but they'd said they'd be strong, strong together, and right now it was the last thing they felt. They were cold and wet and small, and the night was vast and dark with no stars or moon to measure it by. That was the real beginning, that night, when they started to understand just how strong they'd need to be to survive on their own.


End file.
